| Asier Villalibre | |
| Full Name: | Asier Villalibre Molina |
| Birth Date: | 30 September 1997[1] |
| Birth Place: | Guernica, Spain |
| Height: | 1.83 m |
| Position: | Striker |
| Currentclub: | Alavés |
| Youthyears1: | 2011–2014 |
| Youthclubs1: | Athletic Bilbao |
| Years1: | 2014–2015 |
| Caps1: | 45 |
| Goals1: | 26 |
| Years2: | 2015–2019 |
| Caps2: | 99 |
| Goals2: | 37 |
| Years3: | 2016–2024 |
| Caps3: | 102 |
| Goals3: | 11 |
| Years4: | 2017 |
| Clubs4: | → Numancia (loan) |
| Caps4: | 6 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs5: | → Valladolid (loan) |
| Caps5: | 13 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2018 |
| Clubs6: | → Lorca (loan) |
| Caps6: | 12 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2023 |
| Clubs7: | → Alavés (loan) |
| Caps7: | 16 |
| Goals7: | 4 |
| Years8: | 2024– |
| Caps8: | 0 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2013–2014 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 9 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2014–2015 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 1 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2015 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2019– |
| Nationalcaps4: | 3 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:12, 25 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 24 March 2024 |
Asier Villalibre Molina (born 30 September 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Deportivo Alavés.
Born in Guernica, Biscay, Basque Country, Villalibre joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 2011. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2013–14 season, scoring on his Tercera División debut at the age of 15.[2]
In May 2015, after a further 20 goals for the third side, Villalibre was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División – he had already represented them the previous campaign in the Segunda División B.[3] He made his professional debut on 24 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for Gorka Santamaría in a 1–0 home loss against Girona FC.[4]
Villalibre scored his first professional goal for Bilbao Athletic on 6 September 2015, closing the 3–1 home win over RCD Mallorca.[5] At 17 years and 341 days, this made him the second-youngest goalscorer for the team when competing in the second division (behind Ander Garitano's 17 years and 198 days in 1986).[6]
On 3 December 2016, Villalibre was called up to the first team for the Basque derby against SD Eibar, with habitual first-choice Aritz Aduriz suspended after being sent off in the previous league match.[7] He made his La Liga debut the following day, replacing Iñaki Williams after 84 minutes and providing the assist for Iker Muniain to score the final goal of a 3–1 victory in injury time.[8]
Villalibre appeared in his first game in European competition on 8 December 2016, contributing another decisive pass in a 1–1 draw away to SK Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa League group stage after once again coming on from the bench.[9] He was loaned out to CD Numancia on 2 May of the following year, for one month.[10]
On 20 August 2017, Villalibre was loaned to second-tier club Real Valladolid for one year.[11] After only netting twice in the cup, his loan was terminated and he subsequently moved to Lorca FC of the same league also in a temporary deal.[12]
Villalibre scored his first league goal for Athletic on 25 January 2020, playing 84 minutes in the 1–1 away draw with RCD Espanyol.[13] The following 17 January, his last-minute equaliser against FC Barcelona earned extra time and an eventual 3–2 win in the 2021 Supercopa de España final; he was also the target of an aggression that earned Lionel Messi the first club red card of his career.[14]
After totalling 35 games and four goals in 2020–21, Villalibre fell down the pecking order the following years,[15] and was loaned to Deportivo Alavés on 30 January 2023.[16] He scored twice during the second-division play-offs to help the club to gain promotion, starting with a 2–0 victory over Eibar;[17] in the second leg of the final at Levante UD, his penalty deep into injury time of extra time was the tie's only goal.[18]
Back with Athletic, on 16 September 2023 Villalibre scored in a 3–0 win over Cádiz CF just a few seconds after replacing Gorka Guruzeta.[19] On 7 December, in his first start of the season, he netted twice against CD Cayón in the second round of the Copa del Rey.[20] [21] A month later, he added two to help defeat Eibar in the round of 32 (3–0),[22] repeating the feat in the next stage as the hosts downed Alavés 2–0;[23] [24] with these six goals, he equalled Javi Luke's tally from the 1991–92 edition,[25] and finished joint-top scorer of the tournament together with Abdón Prats and Anastasios Douvikas.[26] He did not leave the bench in the final, won against Mallorca on penalties.[27] [28]
On 15 July 2024, Villalibre returned to Alavés on a four-year contract.[29]
Villalibre made his debut for the unofficial Basque Country national team in May 2019, in a 0–0 draw away to Panama for which a small, youthful and inexperienced squad was selected.[30] [31]
| Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Basconia | 2013–14 | Tercera División | 11 | 6 | — | — | — | 11 | 6 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Tercera División | 34 | 20 | — | — | — | 34 | 20 | |||||
| Total | 45 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 26 | |||
| Bilbao Athletic | 2014–15 | Segunda División B | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | Segunda División | 32 | 3 | — | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||||
| 2016–17 | Segunda División B | 27 | 11 | — | — | — | 27 | 11 | |||||
| 2018–19 | Segunda División B | 38 | 23 | — | — | — | 38 | 23 | |||||
| Total | 99 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 101 | 37 | |||
| Athletic Bilbao | 2016–17 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | La Liga | 19 | 3 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 24 | 5 | ||||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 35 | 4 | 6 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | 43 | 6 | |||
| 2021–22 | La Liga | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 18 | 2 | 6 | 6 | — | — | 24 | 8 | ||||
| Total | 102 | 11 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 127 | 21 | |||
| Numancia (loan) | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| Valladolid (loan) | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 13 | 0 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| Lorca (loan) | 2017–18 | Segunda División | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| Alavés (loan) | 2022–23 | Segunda División | 16 | 4 | — | — | 4 | 2 | 20 | 6 | |||
| Career total | 293 | 78 | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 328 | 92 | |||
Athletic Bilbao
2023–24;[28] runner-up: 2019–20,[32] 2020–21[33]